한국 의과대학생들의 공감능력: 전국단위 조사 (Medical Teacher, 2014)

한국 의과대학생들의 공감능력: 전국단위 조사

Empathy in Korean medical students: Findings from a nationwide survey

KYUNG HYE PARK1, HYERIN ROH1, DAE HUN SUH2 & MOHAMMADREZA HOJAT3

1Inje University, Republic of Korea, 2Seoul National University, Republic of Korea, 3Thomas Jefferson University, USA

Background

한국 의대생들의 공감에 대한 기존 연구는 작은 수의 학생을 대상으로 했거나 척도가 달라서 대표성이 낮고 결과의 일반화가능도가 낮았음.

: Previous studies on empathy in Korean medical students were conducted on small populations or with different scales of measurement, resulting in low representativeness and generalisability of the findings.

Aim

전국단위로 한국 의과대학생들의 공감능력을 평가하여 공감능력 향상에 대한 제안을 함.

: To evaluate empathy in Korean medical students throughout the country and to make suggestions to improve empathy.

Methods

JSE의 한국어버전을 활용하였으며, 성별, 연령, 학제, 학년에 따른 영향을 보았음.

: The Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) (Korean) was used, and the impact of sex, age, the medical school admission system, and grade of the respondents was investigated.

Results

5343명으로부터 설문을 받았으며, 평균점수는 105.9점이었음. 여학생과 의전원학생이 더 높은 점수를 받았으며, 성별에 따른 영향을 통제한 이후에도 의대-의전원 학생간 차이가 있었다. 고학년 학생이 저학년 학생보다 점수가 더 낮았다.

: We analyzed 5343 questionnaires and found a mean empathy score of 105.912.8. Females and post-baccalaureate students had higher scores as compared with their counterparts. There was a significant difference between the admission systems after controlling for gender. Students from higher grade levels had lower scores than those from the lower grade levels.

Conclusions

한국 의과대학생들의 JSE점수는 서양 학생의 점수보다 더 낮은 편이었다. 성별과 학제에 따른 영향을 감안해야 할 것이며, 임상현장에 공감능력을 적용하는 능력을 키워주기 위한 교육이 필요할 것이다.

: The JSE score of Korean medical students was lower than that of students in Western countries. The difference of gender and medical school admission system should be considered, and capability to apply empathy to clinical practice should be focused upon in medical training.

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• However, empathic skills are not acquired automatically during clinical training or applied in clinical practice (Hornblow et al. 2009).

• Such studies on the JSE have revealed that the mean empathy score tends to be higher in female students compared with their male counterparts (Alcorta-Garza et al. 2005; Kliszcz et al. 2006; Chen et al. 2007; Ferna´ndez-Olano et al. 2008).

• However, longitudinal studies have revealed a significant decline in empathy scores in the third year of medical school, when the curriculum shifts to patient-care activities (Hojat et al. 2004, 2009).

• The total number of medical students in South Korea was 14,070 in 2012, out of which 7412 students (52.7%) had enrolled in undergraduate programmes.

• The students’ version of the JSE (JSE-S) was used to evaluate the empathy levels of the participants. The JSE-S was translated into Korean in 2010 and was reported to have a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.84 (Roh et al. 2010).

• Analysis of variance (ANOVA) with the Dunnett T3 post hoc test was used to compare empathy scores across grade levels.

Comparison with other countries 

• The JSE-S scores of the Korean medical students found in the present study were lower than that of their counterparts in Western countries. Asian medical students have relatively low empathy scores because of the variation in people’s sentiments and empathy, which is influenced by the culture of each country (Kataoka et al. 2009; Rahimi-Madiseh et al. 2010; Roh et al. 2010; Hong et al. 2012). The communicative culture of Asia is not dependant on non-verbal communication, such as facial expression and hand gestures, which might suppress empathic communication (Park 1980). In addition, for years, a calm, unemotional, and less assertive attitude has been considered a virtue in Korea. Another reason for the lower empathy scores in the present study could be that the highschool students who want to attend medical school have to score high in mathematics and science subjects in the entrance examination, which is similar to Japan (Kataoka et al. 2009). The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) test showed that Korean students secured the highest scores in mathematics, but a very low percentage of Korean students exhibited good engagement skills, drive, and self-belief (PISA 2012, Results in Focus 2013).

• It is not surprising that the empathy score of Korean physicians, as measured by the JSE, was very low (98.2), which was substantially lower than that of Korean medical students (Roh et al. 2010; Suh et al. 2012). Medical students might consider the physicians with low empathy as their role models during their clinical work.

• Korean medical students have a cognitive understanding of the patient’s perspectives, but have difficulties in applying empathy to clinical experiences and treating a patient by putting themselves in the patient’s position.

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Med Teach. 2014 Sep 3:1-6. [Epub ahead of print]

Empathy in Korean medical students: Findings from a nationwide survey.

Park KH1, Roh H, Suh DH, Hojat M.

Author information

• 1Inje University , Republic of Korea .

Abstract

Abstract Background: Previous studies on empathy in Korean medical students were conducted on small populations or with different scales of measurement, resulting in low representativeness and generalisability of the findings. Aim: To evaluate empathy in Korean medical studentsthroughout the country and to make suggestions to improve empathy. Methods: The Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) (Korean) was used, and the impact of sex, age, the medical school admission system, and grade of the respondents was investigated. Results: We analyzed 5343 questionnaires and found a mean empathy score of 105.9 ± 12.8. Females and post-baccalaureate students had higher scores as compared with their counterparts. There was a significant difference between the admission systems after controlling for gender. Students from higher grade levels had lower scores than those from the lower grade levels. Conclusions: The JSE score of Korean medical students was lower than that of students in Western countries. The difference of gender and medical school admission system should be considered, and capability to apply empathy to clinical practice should be focused upon in medical training.

PMID:

 

25182523

 

[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]